Journey of The White Bear #2: The day I had lunch with Superman

Here's actor and former college football star Dean Cain, who played Superman on the TV show Lois and Clark at the time.  This was about 1994, I believe.

Life Lesson:  You never know who life will bring into your path... even Superman

It's a long story, but my obsession with BMX freestyle riding in the early 1980's led me from Idaho to Southern California, and later into the TV business.  One weird job or project led to another, and I wound up as a spotter on the crew of the hit TV show American Gladiators.  For you younger people today, Gladiators was something like American Ninja Warrior with a touch of wrestling thrown in.  The costumes were red, white, blue, and small, the Gladiators were big, and the contests were all real.  There was no show like it at the time, and it lasted eight seasons, which is a long run for a TV show.  I worked on the crew for the last four seasons, starting as a spotter, and moving up to head spotter and leading the crew the last two years.

 In the clip above, you can see three of the spotters in black shorts and shirts with big AG logos, holding the white, shield-like karate pads as Dean crosses the finish line.  We also hooked the Gladiators and contenders into the bungee cords and belay ropes on other games, we coached them, we helped the grips change sets, and we did one other important job on the show.  We were the guinea pigs and practice dummies.  Every time there was a new game, us spotters played it first, and we played against both the Gladiators and contenders in the couple of weeks of practice before we taped the shows.  I happened to be the very first person to run through the gauntlet the first time we set it up.  Fun stuff.  So... literally... I used to get beat up by the American Gladiators for a living.  At least for six or seven weeks each summer.  The show was kind of corny, but it was a blast to work on. 

Most of the show's season was a elimination contest of people who made it into the show through a series of tryouts.  We had all kinds of athletes, martial artists, gymnasts, cheerleaders, cops firefighters, and even a few soldiers make it on the show.  On any given day, there were some serious battles on the show.  A few of the male American Gladiators, including Hawk, played college football.  Any time a football player was a contender on the show, the testosterone levels were through the roof.  So when actor Dean Cain came on, former college football rival Hawk was gunning for him.

The funny thing was, Dean was one of our celebrity contestants.  Every year, they would shoot two or three shows with celebrities going against the Gladiators.  We had actors, Olympic athletes, Playboy Playmates, and others during those shows.  Most were no match for the huge and very athletic Gladiators.  Dean Cain was one of the few exceptions.  He literally would have done well against the regular show contestants, and he did not hold back.  He gave it his all, which earned him a lot of props from both the Gladiators and the crew.

The day before each celebrity show taping, we'd have all the celebrities come in for a practice day and learn the games.  As a spotter, me and my crew did triple duty, although those days were still much easier than normal days.  We would change the big sets and set up the games, we would help coach the celebs on how to compete in each game, and we would practice the games against them, playing the role of Gladiators.  Like I said, it was a fun job.

Halfway through the practice day, we'd all break for lunch, and walk to another stage where the catered lunch was set up.  I happened to sit down by myself that day, most of my crew were at another table.  Then Dean Cain walked up and said, "Mind if I sit here?"  "Sure," I replied.

Now here's the thing about celebrities on athletic shows.  They get a pretty big check just for showing up and going through the motions.  Most of them don't want to risk a serious injury.  Most definitely don't want to get their expensive face messed up, even if there's extra money for the winner.

 But Dean Cain wasn't most celebrities.  Even at lunch he was asking me about the games, and I gave him my knowledge on how to best compete in each one, since I not only watched all the practice and actual events, but I played most of the games myself to help train the on air contestants.  It turned out to be a really cool conversation, and I walked back to the stage with an even bigger respect for Dean Cain.  He did so well on the show, that he came back the next year and competed again.  Even more, he was just a down-to-earth, hard working guy.  He's definitely one of the coolest celebrities I met in my years working on TV crews.  Here's a few more clips of him BITD.

Here's Dean's on air moments from American Gladiators
(If you pause it at 9:51, there's a guy in black, under the silver tower, left of Dean's head.  That's me.)

Highlights of Dean as Superman on Lois and Clark

Bloopers from Lois and Clark

Dean at Comic Con NE in 2017 (see how long a Superman gig-or 4- will get you event appearances)

I'm at a big transition in my life right now.  You can help me move on to the next stage here.